The Haka is mightier than the pen

In the recent week, the New Zealand(1) Parliament put in a bill which has been a hotbed for indigenous rights. This bill, in short, wants to reinterpret who are New Zealanders in the treaty signed by the Europeans and the Moari people in 1840. The argument for such a reinterpretation is that New Zealand has changed a lot from 1840 and should include all those who call themselves New Zealanders. The argument against is that the bill is stripping away the rights of the Maori people.

There are a lot of other people who can do a better job at explaining this to you, and you should listen to them. From my perspective, indigenous cultures/ways of life are constantly under threat due to climate change, corporate greed and forgetting, and that this treaty was one of the only things cementing the indigenous rights in Aotearoa. For that reason, it should not be changed.

One thing I found really eye opening(2) was the performance of the Haka, the Maori dance made famous by the All Blacks, when the bill was proposed and the reaction to it. Comments under the videos(3) I watched ranged from support to condemnation, but a lot were saying that the invocation of the Haka made a joke of the parliamentary process. That if those who were representatives of those communities wanted actual change, they should go through the official channels and proper parliamentary processes.

The problem with this mode of thinking is that these communities have been using these channels to get things done, but have seen that the only way to be heard is to use more direct action to get their point across. Often these take the form of more identity based resistance, showing that they see a system that is both against them as well as totally unreliable. History is full of moments like this, with strikes and protests that provide hinderances or road blocks to get their point across(4).

But what really interested me is the fact that we are priveleging the western model of parliament in its purest strain. There rarely is a parliament that incorporates the native populations customs into its procedure(5). The primary model of democracy is one of representation by vote. If you dislike the vote, you are to accept the ruling as it is what the most amount of people want to happen. The problem with this is, when a bill such as the one in New Zealand comes up, those who are effected by the ruling are expected to accept it and move on.

The thing is, this attitude to 'democratic' practice forgets that when a group gets removed through its identity, its not really a democratic system. Even the parliament system I've been talking about isn't fully democratic, it fosters populism and division rather than fairness. It's only recently that women got the vote(6) in many countries that use this system, with a large percentage of representatives being of European and Colonial heritage. The removal of the Maori from the treaty might be seen as a 'leveling' of identity so all New Zealanders can benefit from it, but it purposefully ignores cultures and identities that do not benefit from the parliamentary system, such as many people of colour and indigenous groups.

So can we really say that the introduction of the Haka in an official space is 'cringe'? Often native customs and traditions are derided as embarrassing and behind the times, but what are the times really? I feel the to reinterpret the treaty as a move forward is to fall into the cult of progress, that we are trying to get somewhere. The problem with progress is that the destination is often decided by someone (or some group) else, who usually haven't thought about or even care about who will be effected by it. If you wanted a more unifyed New Zealand(7), you should want to build for what they need rather than what you feel they need. In education, STEM is prized over everything(8), to the point where places like New Zealand and Britain forced education to only be in english, meaning that anyone that wanted to learn about things, orally or literaturally, had to learn english, putting native language on second footing to the language of the coloniser. It's important to recognise that most STEM subjects are in an English standard, meaning that many languages cannot get information that they can actually process. This is not progress but alienation, and alienation can only combatted by ways outside the system.

I'm sympathetic to the Maori(9), as I see these traditions and customs not as a failure of a democratic process, but as a expression of one. One, as democracy takes many different forms with the European version being the prestiged, and an expression of discontent. An expression showing that they feel ignored, forgotten, with rights to their native lands being dictated away by people who claim that they should all be treated equally, when they have been treated dispicably in the past. If Act(10) really wanted to help relations, they would not start by legally defining everyone as native New Zealanders, but by recognising the differences and help according to need.

I doubt they will be doing that.

{Picture is from Exeter Museum, I cannot remember where it is from but the style is very Oceanic, a good example of art styles of the area}

(1) Or Aotearoa, the Moari name for the two islands.

(2) There are many I feel who would say that this isn't, and shouldn't be surprising

(3) BBC news instagram, Novara media (who I have a strange feeling with), as well as memes of the event itself.

(4) Things like the coal miners strikes showed that we needed them to do things, and they often just wanted to know what else was being offered to help them and their communities, something the Thatcher did not care to find a solution for.

(5) In 'The Dawn of Everything' by David Graeber and David Wengrow, you see this. The first peoples of America noticed this when their debates were not heeded by the coloniser by were expected by to be taken by the native. In 'These Savage Shores' by Caroline Dodds Pennock, this is also mirrored, where people travel to Europe and wonder why they need to change to this way when the Europeans could also learn from them.

(6) And ironically, it was New Zealand to do it first in 1893.

(7) Or insert any divided country you see fit.

(8) Not a bad thing, but there is more to life.

(9) As you can guess.

(10) The political party who started the bill.

Retreat

  For a while now, I’ve been feeling a call to explore.

Explore the other ways of making art other than the canvas.

This is mainly a response to all those who have shown a great interest in my wood carvings, honestly I’ve been enjoying it too, but it has opened up a world of traditional crafts that I just need time to looking into and perfect. Gilding, Carving, Casting, all are making me retreat into myself.

  I call this a retreat not in terms that I’m running away, but in regrouping. Regrouping my resources and solidifying them for future use.

  Partially its a retreat from the art world, a world I both love and feel extremely alienated by(1).

  It’s also a retreat from the expectation that I have to be constantly on show. That my work and my presence need to be everywhere or people will forget I exist (2).

  I have to be happy merely existing, doing things that fulfil me rather than forcing people to acknowledge me. I want to make things that I’m happy to call mine rather than the sake of creating. Art is more than just galleries and champagne. Its history and beauty, with a lot of the time a combination of the two. I can’t see myself going for opportunities and networking at the moment(3).

  Rather than being an existential ‘am i a real artist if I’m not exhibiting?’, the main reason for stepping back a little is down to my interests expanding. I’m looking at what I can get from the world skill and knowledge-wise. I want to grow as an artist, not being known for one thing(4). I need to see where I can push myself in my practice, not limiting myself in paint which I have been doing for over 5 years.

  In the coming months, maybe even years, I’m going to be taking time to learning languages(5), crafts, theory and history that I can build upon. Basically I want art to be enmeshed with the world that we inhabit. We can’t forget that we are all here because of the actions of others that we choose to reject or accept. I want my art to be a continuation of those craftsman that came before us, often forgotten over time. I’m a member of the heritage crafts charity that keeps a record of the many heritage crafts that are dying out or are extinct. I feel that there is a lot to gain from exploring this.

  Going further, I’m trying to be the Uber-Brit(6). A person know knows more about the world I inhabit and call home. A place of change and tradition, folklore and myth. If what I gain from this somehow helps future generations explore history and possibilities, then I can die a happy man.

1. It’s strange, the art world is full of people meeting new people and learning from each other. On the other hand, it’s a full of people just networking. If you have nothing of value to these people, they won’t take the time to know you.

2. The truth is much harder to accept, that most don’t care. You can be part of shows and the person you were next too barely remembers you.

3. Maybe I’m just a little jaded.

4. Unlike that Jeff Koons, terrible artist. Or Kaws.

5. With a general understanding in French, Italian and Welsh (though not fluent), I want to start learning Irish, Scots Gaelic and Cornish. Britain is more diverse than you think, and that’s not taking into account the accents that are equally part of this land.

6. /North Insular European. VERY important when I'm including Irish as a lingustic interest. But in saying so, we know a lot of what was lost in Ireland due to colonialism, but we do forget the losses in Britain. Though not same, many identities in the North/not London area have been decimated due to enclosure and poor land management from landlords prioritising profit over people.

   
   
   
   

The one piece of art I can never do

Over this year, a lot of things have changed. I've started a new job(1), I've got engaged to the best person in the world, and the overwhelming feeling of not doing enough creatively is slowly dissipating(2).

But as I keep making things, there is this one I've strived to make that I hate doing. It plays in my mind and I have dreams of showing off an entire exhibition of them, but that requires an ungodly amount of effort that I just don't possess.

This one thing is a Carpet page.

For those who don't know what carpet pages are, they are large compositions that fill an entire page with decoration and forms. The famous ones are in the Books of Kells and Lindisfarne(3) and are opposite the saints pages that form the four books in the tomes. There are a marvel to see, to examine and replicate. If you don't know them, please give them a google, they are a great evidence of Hiberno-Saxon/Insular art that is also inspired by the mediterranean.

One thing that in required by the those who made these marvels is this ability to spend hours and hours just following patterns and repeating motifs over and over again. There is this meditative element in them where you just have to stay in the process to finish it, something that the monks and religious craftsman would have in the boatloads. Meditating on the love of god with every scratch of the stylus and application of ink. If you had that mindset and separation of the task and ego you could go from morning to night just glorifying your beleif into the parchment.

The thing is, for me, is that I'm more practical. I like to see what is happening and getting it done in a day. For this reason, intricate details that I want to include just claw at my brain and I have to leave it unfinished. I do think there is a perfectionist aspect to my thoughts, as any mistake makes the drawing a throw away instantly(4). I know I'm a perfectionist, but the beauty of mitsakes or happy accidents that I love in people like the abstract expressionists are just not present in these pieces.

In my painting, I love the brushstrokes and the physicality of the paint that isn't in the precise nature of a carpet page. So how do I gel these facts together?

I don't know.

The only real answer is to keep going but with styles that do interest me, like the abstract forms and visual riddles that are a massive part of British art, even up to today. Spirals and light are going to be more prevalent in my work, all my sketches are pointing me in that direction. I've been doing this long enough to notice that where your interest points you should follow it rather than lock into one thing. That's why I can't be a monk, I'm too much of a wanderer. I like the freedom, the ability to go places(5).

If I do make a carpet page in the future, I don't think it will be the same as the Books mentioned. I will be putting my own twist on it, and I will be honouring the ever shifting and changing land that we call home.

(1) so much better than the last one, I'm actually engageing with people!

(2) mainly because everything is very expensive. I have a new job but it's still tight.

(3) These are two different books.

(4) The monks would also agree, with perfection being the best way to show devotion. "good enough does not exist in the Celtic Church, nor the later Catholic church in the renaissance.

(5) And if you do too, support the Right to Roam (R2R)